


Symbiote

by ZizZazZuz



Category: Toaru Kagaku no Railgun | A Certain Scientific Railgun, Toaru Majutsu no Index | A Certain Magical Index, Tokyo Ghoul
Genre: And I basically am entirely rewriting the whole ghoul system, But mostly OC, Crossover, Gen, I will update warnings as content rolls out
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-17
Updated: 2017-03-15
Packaged: 2018-08-31 12:13:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,817
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8578171
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZizZazZuz/pseuds/ZizZazZuz
Summary: First edit: Fixed formatting.





	1. Prologue

_3/14/20xx_

_From: Head Researcher Ito_

_To: Investor_

**_Report on the State of Collection_ **

_Sir,_

_Progress is proceeding at a reasonable pace. My team and I are working diligently to confirm the appearance of one of the specimens. Unfortunately, this process will take some time, as the Parasites are few in number and are quite adept at remaining hidden. I understand your eagerness for tangible results, but you must understand our position. We cannot rush our scrutiny without fear of either delivering a false positive, which would cost the project millions, or a false negative, which would cost us immeasurably._

_Still, our progress continues in other areas. We now have confirmed the existence of three Parasites near Myitkyina, and have found rumors of seven more. Our task now is to remain vigilant and prepare to capture one when the time comes._

_We have also made significant discoveries in the abilities of the Parasites, some of which I have attached below. I will deliver the rest when we are reasonably confident in our hypothesis._

_Sincerely,_

_Tadaaki Ito_

 

_7/08/20xx_

_From: Souji Kano_

_To: Head Researcher Ito_

**_Re:Results of Containment Attempt_ **

_Good news and bad news._

_The good news is that your information was right on the money. I’m not sure how you did it, and I don’t care, you were right. This is the fastest we’ve ever gotten to one of these buggers. It didn’t even have time to implant itself into a host. We entered, cleared the area of bystanders, captured the Parasite, and exited. No fuss, no mess. A flawless job._

_The bad news is that it died on the ride back to our Korean location, just like the others. I had high hopes for this one because we didn’t have to cut it out of a host this time, but it seems like these Parasites simply don’t handle captivity very well._

_The silver lining here is that the corpse is in incredibly good condition. Normally, we have trouble keeping it in one piece after subduing it, but this Parasite was much easier to collect than normal. I hope you get something out of it._

_As always, keep me posted._

_Kano_

* * *

_9/26/20xx_

_From: Head Researcher Ito_

_To: Executive Tsuji_

**_Re: Explain your Recent Actions_ **  

_Sir,_

_I apologise for my indiscretion in acting before consulting you, but I suspect that this may be the breakthrough we need. I wanted to act before it had a chance to slip through our fingers._

_As you know, my team and I have been monitoring all local news and activity in the area where Parasites are thought to reside and where we collected the specimens we have on file. Nine days ago, one of my aides marked an incident where a small bush plane crashed during a storm. It went down in northern Thailand, in the jungles. The plane’s black box was still functioning, so the plane was found fairly easily. The plane contained five people on takeoff: the pilot, the copilot, and a Japanese family of three, a young couple and their daughter. All of them were found dead at the site except for the daughter, who was presumed to have been killed and launched from the aircraft on the crash._

_Three days ago, the daughter reappeared near a town called Pai. She exhibited physical traits that leave no doubt that she had become a host for one of the Parasites, but she displayed none of the characteristic hostility that we’ve come to expect. The townspeople were wary, however, and drove her off. It is unknown if she is still alive, but my team and I consider it highly likely that she survived the attack and fled north, back into the jungle. For this reason, I dispatched Souji Kano without consulting you. She is likely alive and mobile, and I believe that it is in this project’s best interest to retrieve her as quickly as possible._

_With respect,_

_Tadaaki Ito_

* * *

Souji Kano was in a poor mood. Two days ago, he had been woken from a deep sleep by an urgent call from Ito, telling him to get on a plane to Chiang Mai in two hours. When he first applied for this job, he was excited at the prospect of getting to discover and capture new creatures in exotic locations with great pay.

 _Now all I am is a glorified errand boy_ , Kano groused as he trudged through the jungle behind his guides.

 _Ito thinks he can just call me past midnight while I’m cozy in my hotel in Seoul, and expect me to be warding off mosquitoes in Thailand two days later without so much as a peep?_ Kano paused and adjusted his rifle’s uncomfortable strap as his guide hacked through a particularly tough tangle of vines. _Well, I guess he’s right._

Kano had arrived the night before, crashed at the hotel that Ito had set up for him, and set out with four native guides the next morning. The guides were there both to help Kano find his way in the dense underbrush and to ward off any curious wildlife. Kano tried to push thoughts of all the things that could kill him out of his mind as their little group started forward again. They were following the path of the Khong river through the jungle, based on the stories of some townspeople who claimed to have seen the Parasite. After four hours of long, tedious trekking through dense jungle and warding off various snakes, scorpions, and centipedes, Kano was losing hope. His guides were not helping, as they teased him relentlessly for his attempts to find an ‘alien’ as they called it.

“How about we call it a day and head-” Kano began, but cut himself short when the guide in the lead motioned for everyone to be silent. The group froze. Kano’s pulse pounded loudly at his temples. This was the part of the hunt that he loved and dreaded the most. The reason his pay was so excellent was that Kano risked his life every time he encountered a Parasite. They tended to be strong, agile, and unpredictable, no matter which animal they invaded.

The lead guide began to creep forward once again, making as little sound as possible. The second guide followed him closely, with Kano close behind, unshouldering his rifle and loading a dart into the chamber. Soon they stopped again, just on the edge of a little clearing. Before them the ferns and vines fell away for the space of about ten meters on either side of the river. The river itself widened for a moment before getting tangled and overgrown again farther along. The banks were flat but rocky and overgrown with moss.

And in the middle of it all, perched on a lone branch hanging low over the river, gazing intently into the rushing water, was a little girl.

She was wearing a ripped and dirty t-shirt that was probably colorful once, but now was almost entirely covered with mud, and an equally ruined skirt. Her dark brown hair was cut just below her shoulders, and was a color very similar to her eyes. She couldn’t have been much older than seven or eight years old.

She crouched, rooted to her branch, without giving any sign that she noticed Kano and his team approaching. Kano checked his rifle one last time before raising it to his shoulder and taking aim.

 _She’ll probably fall in the water when I tranq her. I should tell one of the guides to head downriver a bit and try to catch her if I can’t grab her here. Is there any wind? No, not too much anyway. Well, even a little bit of wind can blow a tranquilizer dart out of its path, I should check anyway._ Kano sighted in.

The girl vanished. Kano blinked. He was fairly certain he was looking at the right branch... Then the river exploded.

Kano heard one of his guides grunt in shock, but Kano still wasn’t sure what he was seeing. A few moments later, when the girl surfaced with a creature nearly three times her size, it clicked. While he was sighting in on the girl, he missed seeing a water monitor swimming down the river. As it passed under her branch, the girl had dropped on top of it and was wrestling it in the water, sending waves crashing over the rocks and throwing spray into the air. Almost as quickly as the battle began, it ended. The surface of the river settled back into its normal pattern of ripples. Both the girl and the monitor were gone.

“Is she dead?” asked one of his guides a few seconds later.

“Naw,” replied Kano. “She’s just taking her time getting lunch out of the river.”

Sure enough, something emerged from the river at the far bank. Kano simply pointed.

It was the girl, but something was different. When they first saw her perched on the branch, she had looked rather normal. Now, she had some strange, unsettling fifth limb protruding from the small of her back. It was hairless and smooth, distinctly inhuman and _wrong_ in a way that Kano had never seen in anything but the Parasites. The end of this fifth limb was thrust through the neck of the monitor lizard.

The girl dragged the lizard up the bank until it was clear of the water before removing her strange limb from the lizard’s flesh. As she did, it began to disappear, retracting into her back, and she turned to face directly at Kano and his men.

Kano noticed that the guides suddenly seemed much more nervous than they had been a few hours ago. He smirked.

“Taking things seriously now, are we?” he asked pointedly.

“Does she see us? How can she see us back in the brush?” one of his guides asked nervously.

“I’m not sure.” Kano admitted. He frowned. He was quite certain that the girl saw them -- she hadn’t taken her eyes off of them, despite beginning to eat the monitor lizard -- but that raised another question.

“Why isn’t she attacking?” he wondered aloud.

“What?” asked his lead guide.

“Before this, every Parasite I’ve encountered has attacked if it felt anything threatening nearby.” Kano explained. “So why doesn’t this girl do the same? It doesn’t make sense.”

As he spoke, Kano remembered something that Ito had told him over the phone while he was still groggy. Ito had said this one wasn’t aggressive, and seemed intelligent. Ito had suggested that he simply ask her if she wanted to go home, but Kano had laughed in his face. Now though, seeing the girl’s odd behavior and relative harmlessness, he felt the impulse to try.

“If you see that limb again, shoot her.” Kano told his lead guide as he handed over the rifle. “Try to shoot her arm or leg, but as long as you hit her before she hits me I’ll be happy.”

Kano, heart still racing, emerged into the clearing. The girl’s eyes followed him the entire time.

“Um, hello.” said Kano.

The girl stopped eating. Kano cleared his throat. _This may be the dumbest thing I have ever done._

“I’m Souji Kano. I was sent here to come pick you up and bring you home.” Kano continued.

The girl stared at him. _Dang it, it’s really creepy that I can’t read her expression. I don’t like this._ Kano held out his hand.

“I can take you to some friends of mine and they can help you out,” he said in what he hoped was a soothing tone. “We can figure out what that thing in you is and what you are.”

Without warning, the girl jumped back onto the branch she had been perched on, and then from there she jumped to Kano’s side of the river. Kano started and reflexively reached for the rifle that he normally had slung over his back, and then swore softly when it wasn’t there.

Once on his side of the river, the girl walked slowly and deliberately up to him. Kano forced himself to remain still.

“Do you want to come with me?” asked Kano, both as an invitation and as a plea to fate. The girl stopped less than a meter away and stared at him expressionlessly. Up close, Kano could see intelligence in her eyes, but no understanding.

“You have no idea what I’m saying, do you?” mused Kano. He began to relax. The girl was close enough that she could reach out and touch him, but had made no move to attack. If she was going to attack, she would have already. In fact, looking down at her, Kano felt a little bit foolish for being afraid of a cute waist-high grade-schooler.

“I wonder what happened to you?” Kano crouched down to get a better look at her. Through one of the larger gashes in her shirt, Kano could see a pink, puckered scar running from the bottom of her left ribcage to the top of her right hip.

“How’d you do that? Did the Parasite do that to you, or did that happen during the crash, huh?” asked Kano. He didn’t bother waiting for a reply.

“Well, if it’s alright with you, we should be getting to the airport. There are some very pushy nerds in Academy City who have spent much of the last year and a half waiting for you.” said Kano. He took the little girl’s hand and led her back toward his guides. Ito was pushy, but Kano couldn’t deny that he was usually right. And he paid well.

* * *

_9/28/20xx_

_From: Souji Kano_

_To: Head Researcher Ito_

**_You Were Right_ **

_I found her. She’s on her way. She should be at your lab by this evening. I have a lot of questions, but I can imagine you’ll be pretty busy for a while._

_As always, keep me posted._

_Kano_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First edit: Fixed formatting.


	2. The Calm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ito and Tsuji discuss the events leading up to Kano's expedition, and Nagata is left taking care of the kid.

_9/29/20xx_

_From: N/A_

_To: Bishop_

**_(no subject)_ **

_The project is beginning to produce results. It’s not there yet, but it just took a great leap forward. I’ll send you updates as I learn more._

* * *

Ito hesitated outside the AIM lab and checked his watch. He still had a few minutes before having to go up to the first floor, and the Parasite was supposed to be in the lab right now. He let curiosity get the better of him and opened the door.

“How is it doing, Nagata?” Ito asked. Rhetta Nagata started and looked up from the console she was examining.

“Oh, sorry, sir. I didn’t hear you come in. By ‘it’, I assume you mean our newest subject? She’s doing fine, probably. We’ve already got the preliminary results back from the bio scan we did the other day, and I’m just looking over the AIM scan I did just now.” Nagata glanced over toward where the strange little girl lay sedated in a tube of glass and metal. “It’s actually giving us some results.”

“Really? Interesting. Our records didn’t show that the girl in the crash… Ah, what was her name again?”

“I can’t remember. Sorry.”

“Well, our records never showed that she participated in the esper program.”

Ito rubbed his chin thoughtfully and was surprised to find stubble there. The last few days had been so busy, he hadn’t had time… “I wonder if this solves the mystery of how the Parasites communicate with each other?”

Nagata blinked. “Well, it is true that the Parasites seem to coordinate their movements with each other, but we never had any indication that they used AIM fields to do so. It makes sense though.”

“And it would explain why no other methods of communication were observed.” Ito frowned. This complicated things. “Well, keep up the good work. I have to go talk to the boss. He’s been more or less in the dark for the last few days.”

“Sure, I can handle things here.”

Ito left the AIM lab and headed left up the corridor. Most of the facility was built around a central hallway, and the further in you went the more sensitive the material became. This hallway was duplicated on multiple floors, most of which were underground. The offices were near the entrance of the facility, just behind the elevators and the reception area on the first floor. The AIM lab was in the middle of the third basement.

It took Ito about five minutes to reach his boss’s office, time that he used to collect his thoughts and come up with a summary of everything that they’d learned thus far about the specimen, its origin, behavior, and anything else that might be useful. Once he felt like he had a handle on the last week, he knocked on the door.

“Come in.”

Ito entered a rather sparse office, furnished with only a desk, a couple chairs, and a bookshelf. Tsuji looked up from his work. “Ah, Ito! Come in, come in. I hear things have been quite lively downstairs these last few days, but no one has been able to tell me anything coherent.”

Ito grinned and sat down in the nearby chair. “Kano dropped quite a bombshell on us. We’ve been scrambling to get everything set up for the last week. I doubt there was anyone who actually knew everything before now. Did you know we didn’t even have any living quarters on-site until six days ago? We had to strip everything out of one of our lesser-used labs downstairs and put a futon in it. You got my request, right?”

“Yes, I’ve started looking for contractors willing to install a fifth basement level, but they tell me it won’t be cheap. I need you to give me something to sell to our investors.”

“Right.” Ito settled back into his chair. “What do you want to know?”

Tsuji glanced over at his notes. “How about we start with what tipped you off that this Parasite was different.”

“Ah. Yes. Well, after the plane crash, the first sighting of the subject was actually reported by siblings playing on the north side of Pai, a small town in northern Thailand. They say they saw it kill and eat a Burmese Python of a respectable size. That isn’t terribly unusual, but they also reported that the Parasite saw them and let them run. Now _that_ is highly unusual behavior for any creature infested by a Parasite. Normally in this situation we either see reports of a bloodbath, or we just end up with a pair of missing persons reports that will never be resolved. That, plus the fact that no one was killed when the townspeople drove the Parasite out of Pai, led me to believe that we had a unique situation -- no, a unique opportunity -- on our hands.”

“See, these are things that even I didn’t know yet.” Tsuji grinned. “And you sent Kano in to investigate, right?”

“Yes. He can be difficult at times, but he gets a kick out of his job and he’s quite good at it. That said, I didn’t expect him to retrieve the subject the day after he arrived. We were not prepared in the slightest. We’re getting a handle on things now, though.”

“What was your first impression of the girl when she arrived?”

Ito sighed. “Well… Two things. No, three. First, I’m not used to thinking of any organism, not even humans, as anything other than Parasites once they are infested. I have yet to break that habit, and even if I’m wrong in this case, I don’t think it would be wise to think of the girl in the plane crash and the Parasite in the basement as the same person.

“Second, specifically about my first impressions this time, I was quite unsettled when I first saw it. Its emotions don’t show themselves on its face if it even has any. It doesn’t make a sound under any conditions, even if it's in pain. It is also clearly highly intelligent. It learned to use our doors and elevators in very short order, and ransacked our office refrigerators twice before we managed to get her contained. I don’t like things I have trouble predicting, and that goes double for anything that’s so blatantly dangerous. I can’t wait for the fifth basement level to be complete so we can have some actual security on site.

“Third, despite my misgivings, this whole event would not have happened if this Parasite played by the same rules as all the others. All the signs so far point to this being a huge breakthrough and doing wonders for our research. It’s too early to tell for sure, but this may even get the guys in Development over that wall they hit.”

“That is excellent news. You’re giving me a lot to work with, thanks.” Tsuji glanced over at his notes again. “That’s probably enough for me to work with, but just for my own curiosity… Do you have any ideas about what happened between the plane crash and the time the g- ah, the Parasite showed up at Pai?”

“Only guesses. At first we thought that the team on site was wrong and the girl remained in the airplane during the crash, and survived in good enough condition to walk out into the jungle. But after examining -- Wait, have you had the opportunity to take a good look at the Parasite?”

Tsuji shook his head glumly. “No, I’ve been tied up with deskwork and events all week and haven’t even gotten to go below the first basement.”

“Well, you should go take a look at it when you get the chance. There are freshly healed lacerations and puncture wounds literally all over its body, including one gigantic cut on its abdomen that appears to have been deep enough to slice into its internal organs.

“The going assumption downstairs is that the forensics team that investigated the crash was actually correct. The girl, whose name escapes me at the moment, was probably ejected through one of the front windows of the plane. As she flew, various shrapnel and glass shards dealt a significant amount of damage to her, and based on the pattern of the cut, her abdomen was probably sliced open by partially torn metal that was still attached to the body of the plane. Based on what we’ve observed of the Parasite, there was also significant head trauma that was probably caused by crashing into a tree or something when she hit the ground. That was also probably the cause of death.”

“Wait a second.” Tsuji leaned back in his chair. “‘Cause of death.’ You’re saying the girl _died_?”

Ito shrugged. “We’re not completely sure, of course, but it definitely looks that way.”

“Then what’s walking around my facility?” Tsuji began to look more concerned. Ito grinned.

“I told you. A Parasite. Probably.”

“‘Probably?’”

“Well, we’ve never seen one behave this way before, so we can’t be sure. Based on the early results of the physical scan, it looks like the Parasite entered the girl’s abdominal cut after she died and did its best to repair her organs and restart her heart and brain functions. Apparently it succeeded, but because the Parasite was probably short on food while it repaired her, it’s likely to have a scar on its abdomen for the rest of its life.”

“Huh. Well, this is all very interesting, but I don’t want to keep you too long. I’m sure you’re busy.”

“Anytime. It was my pleasure.” Ito stood and left the office. Despite what he had said, he had a very important meeting to go to, and both he and Executive Tsuji knew it.

* * *

Nagata pulled her attention away from her laptop and stretched. It had been another long day, and she had spent most of it relegated to babysitting duty. It was just boring enough to let her attention wander and just dangerous enough to conceivably get her killed.

She was still in the AIM lab six hours after Head Researcher Ito’s surprise visit, and the little girl was still there with her. After Nagata had finished the AIM scans, she had intended to move the girl, who had been designated Subject Zero, or just Zero, back to the lab where she was staying. Unfortunately, that lab was in use, and would continue to be in use until dinner. As a result, Nagata was forced to bring some toys into her precious AIM lab and keep an eye on Zero until they could lock her back in her designated lab.

Nagata looked across the lab to where the girl played in the far corner. The lab didn't have many toys on hand, so she was playing with some wooden blocks that a couple members of the Design team whipped up. _With her back to me like this, I can almost pretend one of the other researchers brought their daughter to work with them for the day._

Nagata had gotten quite familiar with Subject Zero’s mannerisms over the last week. The little Parasite girl behaved, in most ways, just the same as a normal little girl would. She ran around and explored the facility, had a short attention span, had no sense of personal space, and played with the blocks just like any other girl her age. At the moment, Zero was trying to build the blocks into a tower that was nearly as tall as she was.

The moment someone caught her attention, however, the illusion of normalcy was shattered. Her gaze was piercing and intelligent, but never betrayed any of what was going on inside her head. She never flinched and she never spoke. Whether she was scampering around and getting into mischief in hard-to-reach areas of the facility, or had just accidentally burned her favorite stuffed animal (she’d had one for two days before dropping it in an oxidizing agent), she wore the same imperturbable bland mask.

After a few moments, Nagata was startled out of her reverie by a resounding crash. Zero’s tower had finally collapsed on top of her. Nagata jumped out of her chair and rushed to the Parasite.

“Are you alright?” asked Nagata, despite knowing Zero couldn’t understand her. By the time Nagata reached her, Zero had already started stacking blocks again.

“Look at me a moment,” Nagata said. She grabbed Zero’s chin and pulled it toward her to check for injuries, suppressing her revulsion as the girl focused her empty gaze. There was one, of course, just above her eyebrow; but Nagata quickly realized she needn’t have bothered to check. The small cut sealed itself before she could even wipe away the blood.

“Well, as long as you’re fine, keep on playing, I suppose,” muttered Nagata as she returned to her desk. _I have_ got _to figure out what’s screwed up in her head before she gets into mine._

Nagata paused before returning to work. _What was her name?_

Out of curiosity, she decided to look it up again.

Heiwa. Peace. Nagata smiled. _Ah, sweet irony. To build a warrior on the memory of the child of peace._

* * *

_9/30/20xx_

_From: Head Researcher Ito_

_To: Nunatoba Shinobu_

**_An offer for your creation_ **

_Dear Shinobu,_

_I trust you are doing well. I send you this message to remind you of our upcoming meeting. I trust that the time I set will still work for you. If it does not, let me know now so that I can change our reservation to something that suits you better._

_I also recieved your previous responses and hope you will forgive me for answering so slowly, but things have gotten very busy here recently. I hope you understand. Additionally, I would prefer to do any further negotiation in person._

_I look forward to our next meeting._

_Regards,_

_Tadaaki Ito_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First edit: Fixed formatting.


	3. Incubation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dr. Shinobu's device is put to use.

_ 10/10/20xx _

_ From: Rhetta Nagata _

_ To: Head Researcher Ito _

**_The setup is complete_ **

_ Sir, _

_ My team and I have completed the setup for the machines that Dr. Shinobu sent us, and the final results on Zero’s scans have come in. We have everything you requested. We should be ready to begin at any time. _

_ Nagata _

* * *

 

Nagata drummed her fingers while idly listening to the hum of technicians and scientists around her.  _ That was probably not the best email I have ever sent. Too direct. Ah well, too late to change it now. _

Nagata was exhausted, and much to her annoyance, it was starting to show. Her attention span was getting shorter right along with her temper. She had spent the last few days coordinating the setup of Dr. Shinobu’s miracle machine, while also interpreting data gathered by various scans of Zero’s body and mind.

She was ready to go home and go to bed. 

“Nagata?”

At the sound of Ito’s voice, Nagata jerked out of a stupor she didn’t remember entering. “I didn’t break anything.”

Ito laughed. “Don’t worry, assuming all goes well you’ll be home by dinner. I know you’ve been working hard. I’ve already called for Subject Zero to be brought to the Testaments, and the procedure itself should take no longer than an hour.”

“Oh good.” Nagata sat up and yawned. “If you don’t mind me asking, what exactly is the procedure for?”

“What? Nobody told you?”

“No, I’ve just been interpreting and feeding you data. Nobody’s told me anything.”

Ito sat down at a nearby terminal. “The scans you interpreted gave us some new information about three major areas: the Parasite’s relationship to its host, its AIM fields, and the condition of the host.”

Ito held up a finger for each item he listed. “Let’s start with that last one, because it most directly relates to what we’re doing here. As you know, the girl has brain damage.”

Nagata nodded. “Most of her memory and her speech was gone, as I recall, as well as a fight-or-flight response that seemed to be permanently locked on.” Nagata had also mentioned in her report that this condition of constantly having adrenalin surging through Zero’s body likely contributed her unnerving tendency to conceal her emotions.

“Yes. Part one of this little experiment is to attempt to finish wiping her memory and restore some language function, as well as to deactivate that fight-or-flight response. Part two is to attempt to enforce some rules on the Parasite.”

Nagata privately wondered why they wanted to erase the girl’s remaining memories, but out loud asked, “What rules are those?”

“They’re fairly simple and straightforward, at the moment. The first rule is to follow orders given by the researchers. The second is that they are not to make contact with anyone without our approval, for what I should hope are obvious reasons. The third rule, and the most important for our purposes, is that they are not to kill humans.”

“You’re trying to train her? I’m impressed.”

Ito grinned. “Well, we have to start somewhere. The third rule goes directly counter to everything we know about the behavior of Parasites, so if it works, we can be fairly confident moving forward. That said, this particular Parasite is acting so outside the norm for what we understand about how they work that it may not be accurate to call it a Parasite anymore.”

“Well, what else would we call it?”

Ito shook his head. “I don’t know.”

The door swung open and Zero, flanked by two of the facility’s brand-new security guards, stepped into the room.   
“Looks like you’re up,” Ito remarked. Nagata stood and opened a second door, which lead from the control area to the bland, white-paneled box that housed the real technological marvel of the room.

The Testament. Their altar to the god of science, and Zero was their sacrifice.

Despite being fairly nondescript, a simple container of metal with a curved glass cover, it still seemed to dominate the room. The Testament was Dr. Shinobu’s magnum opus, a device that could reprogram the brain in a matter of hours. It was perfectly suited to the needs of their research.

The world took on an air of unreality for Nagata as she helped Zero undress and climb into the Testament. The girl complied quietly with the same stoic face she’d worn for the last two weeks, not reacting even as Nagata slipped the hood over her head and closed the capsule.

Nagata quickly retreated to the control room, sealing the Testament room behind her. The control room was alive with the murmur of technician’s voices, checking and re-checking the equipment. They only had one chance.

Finally, a technician looked up and gave Ito a thumbs up. He cleared her throat and announced, “Begin phase one.”

The technician pressed a button. A handful of other assistants gazed intently at their screens.

An astonishing amount of nothing happened.

“Now we wait?” Nakata asked.

Ito nodded. “Now we wait.”

* * *

 

“Phase one is complete.”

Ito looked up from his book. “Well, no need to consult me, go ahead and begin phase two.”

“Yes sir.”

“And now we wait some more?” Nagata asked while stretching. She checked her watch. About two hours had passed while she had been dozing.

Ito nodded. “Yes, but not so much as before. It should only be maybe a half-hour from this point on.”

He returned to his book. “Have you had any experience with the Sisters?”

Nagata blinked. “Er, no. I don’t believe I have.”  _ Actually I’m not sure I even know what the Sisters are. _

“Well good.” Ito smiled. “Then you won’t have any expectations to disappoint.”

Nagata was not sure how to react to that. With only a half-hour left until the operation finished, a nap was out of the question. She settled back in her chair and pulled out her phone. A little browsing the internet to pass the time never hurt anyone. Right?

“Something’s wrong.”

Nagata looked up from her phone, surprised. How long had she been on the internet? Twenty minutes? That was fast.

“What happened?” Ito asked, closing his book.

“I’m not sure,” the technician answered. “But Subject Zero’s heart rate is rising to unusual levels. Other signs of stress also seem to be forming.”

“Let me see, move.” Ito commanded. The technician scooted out of the way and Ito bent over his station, examining a mess of real-time graphs and charts describing Zero’s health in the Testament. 

“Oh that’s not good. That’s not good at all,” Ito mumbled. He glanced up at Nagata. “Shut it down.”

Nagata paused, ready to protest, to complain that this would set back their progress by weeks, but something in Ito’s face stopped her. She moved to a nearby terminal and entered the command to shut down the program and halt the progress of the Testament. The screens around the room went still.

Even through the closed door, they could hear the sound of something striking the Testament. 

**Author's Note:**

> Howdy! I've got a couple chapters of this written already, but I'm still figuring out how formatting and posting content to AO3 works, so please bear with me. I'm also known for slacking off, so get on my case if I stop updating or something.


End file.
